Still Can’t Believe Yankees Fans Blamed Anthony Rizzo for World Series Meltdown
I can’t get over this. The World Series has been over for almost a week and I still cannot believe there were and probably still are some Yankees fans who blamed Anthony Rizzo for the team’s fifth inning meltdown in Game 5 of the World Series.
The Yankees committed two physical errors in that fifth inning against the Dodgers, allowing Los Angeles the opportunity to come back from a five-run deficit. Aaron Judge dropped a routine fly ball in center fielder and then shortstop Anthony Volpe spiked a throw to third base that loaded the bases with nobody out. But even after that series of brutal mistakes Gerrit Cole struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani and then got Mookie Betts to hit a dribbler to first base that should have ended the inning with the Yankees still ahead 5-0.
All Cole had to do was cover first base and receive Rizzo’s throw. Well, Cole had a brain fart and after beginning to run toward the bag he all of a sudden stopped, which allowed Betts to reach safely and continue the inning. However, some Yankees fans were most upset at Rizzo.
I’m not sure if those just missed the beginning of the play, but the reason Rizzo had no chance at sprinting to first base to get the out on his own is because the ball had some nasty spin, so he couldn’t commit to charging in and instead squared up to field the ball and Rizzo did that because as he’s getting positioned to make a play on the ball he looks up and sees Cole running toward the bag like he’s supposed.
No idea why Cole stopped and maybe you can argue that even with Cole covering that Betts beats out the toss. Still, the first inclination was to blame Rizzo for being lazy and that’s completely absurd.
Oh and by the way, New York still took the lead back later in the game, but once again the Yankees’ defense blew it in the eighth inning, when the Dodgers went ahead following a catcher’s interference that loaded the bases.
Rizzo is now a free agent after the Yankees bought out his 2025 option. Yankees fans didn’t even want Rizzo back on the roster this past postseason.
Anthony Rizzo Back on Yankees ALCS Roster
Anthony Rizzo missed the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals after getting drilled on the hand by a pitch in the final regular season series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The New York Yankees first baseman needed a bit more time to recover and now Rizzo is back on the ALCS roster, but it doesn’t mean he’s playing pain-free against the Cleveland Guardians.
Here’s the hit by pitch that happened on Sept. 28, when Pirates lefty Ryan Borucki broke two of Rizzo’s fingers on his right hand.
MLB: Rizzo broke two fingers. Yankees 1B suffered HBP vs Pirates; may still play in postseason pic.twitter.com/tXlkHyq1Fk
— Alain Keith Cabardo Daguio (@keithdaguio) September 29, 2024
It’s been a little more than two weeks since that incident and while Rizzo feels capable enough to play he’s going to be doing it with two broken fingers.
Rizzo ended the 2024 regular season with a total of 375 plate appearances, missing time with a forearm fracture from June into September. The left-handed hitter posted the worst numbers of his career since his rookie campaign this season, recording an 84 wRC+, slashing .228/.301/.335.
Regardless, how can you not admire Rizzo’s gutsiness.
There’s no doubt Rizzo has always been a player who wants to be out there every day. I still remember the 2019 season, when Rizzo suffered a severe ankle sprain, missed a series, but then returned to the Cubs’ starting lineup in time for a crucial four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Rizzo ended up homering in that game for the Cubs when he very-much could have been on the injured list. But he showed up when the Cubs were still fighting for a playoff spot.
However, Yankees fans don’t seem to care very much about how tough Rizzo is right now because there’s been a lot of criticism coming from that fan base ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Guardians in regards to Rizzo being on the ALCS roster.
Rizzo is penciled into the Yankees starting lineup, batting eighth.
Meanwhile, another former Cubs player is also back on the Yankees ALCS roster, as Marcus Stroman was added to the 26-player list after being left off the ALDS roster.
Can Rizzo prove his haters wrong? We’ll see as the ALCS begins Monday night at Yankee Stadium.